


Caught in a Moment

by lodgedinmythoughts



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky is a little shit, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Dubious Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I repeat DUBIOUS CONSENT, Jealous Steve Rogers, Language, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Possessive Steve Rogers, Steve is retired in the present, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:27:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26341114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lodgedinmythoughts/pseuds/lodgedinmythoughts
Summary: A mission calls for you to go undercover as a fake couple with someone, and you choose that someone to be Bucky. Miscommunication abounds when a newly retired Steve believes you and Bucky to be dating, and he's not the least bit happy about it.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, Steve Rogers/Reader
Comments: 22
Kudos: 236





	Caught in a Moment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tomatofish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatofish/gifts).



> For the prompt: "OC uses clueless Bucky as a fake-boyfriend shield for some reason (rest of team may/may not know it's fake, hmm what do you think?), Bucky plays along because he's a Good FriendTM, and Steve has jealousy-fueled murderous intent. Bonus if it's borderline dark Steve."
> 
> Sliiightly deviated from the prompt in that they're not really fake dating in front of Steve per se, just that Steve believes they're dating without any correction from them. And Bucky ain't so clueless here. Not really dark Steve, but darker than canon. Hope you enjoy!
> 
>  **WARNING:** Dubious consent. Do not read if this material is upsetting or triggering. 18+ readers only.

“Bucky. You and Sam aren’t occupied at the moment, right? No missions, nothing like that?”

At your sudden appearance, Bucky continued across the yard with a small dip between his brows. He carried a toolbox, having been working on something or other in the shed out back. The August heat and humidity was evident in the sheen of sweat that dotted his forehead.

“Hello to you, too,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, which was now unencumbered due to his return to a short, neater hairstyle. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Sorry to ambush you like this. My phone died before I could text and I needed to come straight away.” You fell into step with him. His backyard was quite extensive, and it’d taken a while for you to find him. He lived in a ranch-style house practically in the middle of nowhere, which was just how he liked it, he’d said.

“Why?” he asked.

“You won’t believe this. I got a tip that Hendricks popped back up again. She was last seen in Laos and was said to be making her way across Southeast Asia. Word is she’s headed back to North America.”

“From who?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who gave you the tip?”

You tensed, but played it off with a shrug. “Sharon. She informs me of potential jobs from time to time.”

“Off the books, of course.”

“Is there any other way?”

“You’re really embracing this whole vigilante thing, aren’t you?”

“Come on. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s gone. Avengers, TBD. You and Sam are sort of free agents yourselves, so you of all people should understand.”

“Relax. I’m the last person to judge. So I’m assuming you’re looking to take down Hendricks.” He stopped at the small garden and picked up the hose, plopping down on a bench to spray off his arms.

“Well, yeah,” you said. “I’m not letting her get away again. She’s become so arrogant as to think no one will notice her gallivanting around the globe.”

“You’ve been after her for months. You really think you’ll get her this time around?”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” you said, though you had your own doubts.

“Just saying. You’ve tried everything in the book and she’s still managed to slip away. You’re not the one at fault here. She’s just inventing a game with rules no one knows squat about except her.”

“Well, I haven’t tried everything.”

He didn’t react, just kept rinsing his arms.

You tried again. “I haven’t tried everything.”

He glanced up. “Okay? And by that you mean?”

“I need you to come undercover with me. Well, I’ll be undercover. You’ll be you. And you’ll be pretending to be my partner.”

He considered it. “Okay, but I don’t see why I’d need to pretend to be your partner if we’d already actually be partners.”

“No, no, I mean romantic partners. Like boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife.”

“Why?”

“She doesn’t know I’m the one who’s been after her, so she won’t be expecting me. Plus, practically no one knows who I am since I joined later and was sort of an unofficial member of the team. And she can’t resist a handsome face.”

He pretended to be flattered. “You think I’m handsome?”

“She will think you’re handsome. And it doesn’t matter to her whether you’re taken or not, but the fact that you’ll be taken will make you all the more irresistible. Her track record proves that.”

“So I’m your honeypot.”

“We can use the term ‘bait’ if you prefer.”

“Think you’re forgetting a minor detail, though.”

“What?”

“You may be an unknown, but I’m not. Unless everyone agreed to forget that I’m a hundred-year-old ex-assassin who was once responsible for bombing the U.N.”

“Thought to be responsible. Proven not to be.”

“Still, people know who I am. Don’t you think Hendricks would see me and guess right away I’m there for her?”

“The world’s still getting used to seeing you not as the bad guy. That leaves a little wiggle room for you to convince her you might be crossing to the dark side again.”

“A little dramatic,” he remarked dryly.

“Seriously, Bucky.”

He sighed. “All right. If it’ll bring down Hendricks.” Then he huffed out a small sound of amusement and shook his head as he stood and wiped off his hands. “Steve isn’t going to be happy.”

You were caught off guard at the mention of the other man. And there was no way your heart did some weird lurch at just his name. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll have to ask him that yourself.”

“Okay, well, I think any reservations he might have about this will be put to rest. We’ve all gone undercover before.”

“Whatever you say.” You ambled back to the house together, and he continued, “Kind of surprised you didn’t ask Sam, though. He’s better at the whole acting thing.”

“Well…I kind of did ask him,” you said sheepishly. “But he’s on a self-imposed vacation right now visiting family.”

Bucky pretended to be wounded. “Ouch.”

“Don’t worry, Bucky.” You leaned into him and clutched his arm with a smile. “You’re still my number one.”

Just then, the back door swung open with a force that startled you.

Steve came out and stood at the deck, unsmiling and looking fresh out of the shower.

“Steve.” You faltered at the sight of him and your chest did that weird tugging thing again.

“Hey. Didn’t expect to see you here.” His eyes flicked between you and Bucky before resting on you.

“I could say the same to you,” you said.

“Steve’s sort of on a self-imposed vacation himself,” Bucky said from beside you. “Decided to take a rest from all that resting he’s doing.”

Though his tone was teasing, Steve still sent a subtle glare his way.

“Where’s your car? I didn’t see it when I got here,” you said, glancing around as though it might have been parked out there in the yard.

“I took the train,” Steve answered. “Bucky picked me up from the station.”

You nodded, and a silence edging too close to uncomfortable for your liking fell over the group.

“So, what’s going on here?” Steve asked, gesturing between you and Bucky. You still had your arm looped through his.

“Oh, um…” You carefully withdrew your arm, hoping to draw as little attention to the gesture as possible. “I was just asking Bucky…”

“If she could stay for dinner,” Bucky smoothly interrupted. Your eyes slid over to him in question. His answered back with, _Don’t worry about it._

“Dinner?” Steve’s eyebrow was slightly cocked. It was clear he didn’t believe it.

“Yup. And you’re cooking.” Bucky moved ahead to enter the house, clapping Steve on the shoulder and adding in your direction, “Make yourself at home.”

Once he was gone, Steve’s focus was back on you. You had the incredible urge to squirm under his gaze. You wished he would stop looking at you like that.

“What are you doing here?” Steve asked, watching as you took your sweet time climbing the back steps, closer toward him.

“Dinner,” you said simply. You didn’t really believe that he’d have any reason against your going undercover, but Bucky had planted the seed in your head. And with the way Steve’s mood currently seemed to be going, you weren’t inclined to bring up the subject.

You were nearly to freedom, just about to pass through the door when Steve’s voice came from somewhere close. Too close.

“Weren’t expecting me?”

You turned your head to find him looking directly at you.

You weren’t even sure how you answered. You may have mumbled something resembling, “Um, no, I guess,” before retreating indoors, your arm brushing his torso as you passed.

**. . .**

Dinner ended up being prepared by both men. You ate together in the rustic dining room, and conversation was oddly stilted. You and Bucky locked eyes a few times, which Steve pretended not to notice before spearing his chicken in a fashion that seemed decidedly too restrained.

“So,” Steve said, mildly pointing his fork between the two of you, “you two do anything interesting lately?”

“Interesting?” Bucky said, chewing his food. “Not really.”

Steve’s gaze slid over to you. “You? Anything interesting?”

 _Man’s really trying for some small talk_ , you thought with wry amusement.

You shrugged. “No. How about you? How’s retirement?”

Steve lived about an hour and a half away in a modest cottage closer to D.C. Seeing as he had more than enough money saved up to live comfortably, he didn’t have to worry so much about making a living for the time being. He lived a quiet life, socializing with friends and acquaintances and keeping to himself when it suited him. He liked hands-on work, much like Bucky, and could often be found in the middle of a repair or upgrade, among other more artistic endeavors. With the shield passed to Sam, he was able to indulge in his interests that had been cast aside in favor of being Captain America.

“Retirement’s good,” Steve said. “A lot more time on my hands, which is why I decided to pay Bucky here a visit.”

“Are you just here for the day?” you asked.

He shook his head. “Was going to at first, but Bucky invited me over for the whole weekend.”

“Oh.” You weren’t expecting that. “This weekend?”

_Of course this weekend, idiot._

“Yeah.” Steve’s eyes narrowed in speculation. “Why?”

You were supposed to go undercover with Bucky that weekend. Sharon had said that Hendricks was set to attend a cocktail party of some business tycoon in Vancouver, and to your gratitude, she’d also managed to pull some strings and get you—under an alias—and a plus one on the guest list. You hadn’t mentioned it to Bucky yet, not with the way it felt like Steve had hovered over you and Bucky once you’d all made it inside.

“No reason,” you said. “Except…”

Steve finished a bite of his food. “Except what?”

You looked to Bucky, knowing he’d catch on. “I feel totally horrible about this, and I didn’t know you’d be staying over this weekend, but…Bucky and I are sort of supposed to be somewhere this weekend.”

Steve paused in his meal. “Be somewhere?”

“Yeah.”

“Together?”

 _Oh, what’s the point?_ , you thought. There was no reason to go on hiding it from him. It wasn’t as though he’d actually have reason to protest. Going undercover together was a perfectly logical solution to capturing Hendricks.

You were just about to let him know about the mission when Bucky casually cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with his napkin, chiming in, “Yeah. Together.”

It was silent for a good while other than the clinking of silverware.

Finally, Steve spoke, voice pitched low. “Where?”

“Her family’s house,” Bucky answered before you could. “We’d always planned to visit but had to keep pushing it back. I’ve been meaning to meet them for a while now.”

Steve’s narrowed eyes were on Bucky, studying him. “Why didn’t you say anything about it before I got here?”

“Forgot. ’Cause I’m an idiot. My fault. Sorry.”

You had no idea what to contribute. Maybe you could say you’d make it up to him by inviting him over to your place later, but then that’d just look like pity. Maybe you could just tell him it was all a lie and end up looking like an idiot.

“I feel really bad about this, man, honestly,” Bucky continued. “But, look, you’re completely free to hang out here for the weekend if you want. Have full rein of the place till we get back. Which is probably, what, a couple days?” He looked to you for confirmation.

“Well,” you said, “we’d have to leave tomorrow, but depending on what time we come back, we’ll probably get back sometime in the morning.”

“So we’ll only be gone one day?” asked Bucky.

You nodded.

Steve watched the exchange carefully. You could feel his gaze like flames on your skin.

“So it turns out we’ll only be gone Saturday, but we’ll be back by Sunday morning,” you said to Steve. “I’m so sorry, Steve. I didn’t know you’d be here this weekend. I promise, we’ll make it up to you.”

Steve chuckled sarcastically, more to himself, and sat back in his seat. “‘We,’ huh?”

“Take it out on me, pal,” Bucky said coolly. “I’m the one who forgot to tell you before inviting you to stay. Do you still want to stay? I’ll drop you off at the station if you’d rather head back.”

Steve appeared the picture of nonchalance, until his fingers drummed lightly on the table for a quick beat and the corner of his mouth ticked up.

“No. I think I’ll stay.”

**. . .**

After several minutes, you still hadn’t found the key. Before you’d left for home in order to pack for the following evening, Bucky had told you where the spare key was in case you wanted to come in on your own. You’d said you’d be back later since Bucky’s place was closer to the airport and you could just leave together the next day. Steve had stayed silent the whole time, merely watching, observing as you chatted with Bucky.

When you finally made it back to Bucky’s house, it was well past dark. With the porch light as your aid, you searched the hidden nook inside the duck figurine in the corner. The key wasn’t there.

Maybe you’d heard wrong. Maybe he’d moved it and forgot. You decided to forget it and just ring the bell.

You were in the midst of turning around when you collided with a larger, unyielding form.

You yelped, ready to wrench yourself free from the man’s grip—because it was definitely a man—and put your training to good use when you realized who it was.

You sighed a breath of relief. “God, Steve, you scared me. Did you really have to sneak up on me like that?”

“I thought you heard me,” he said. He still had a tight grip on your waist.

“You could’ve said something.”

“I didn’t think you’d turn around so fast.”

Why wasn’t he letting go?

You placed both hands on his forearms and gently pulled him off. After some notable resistance, his hands finally slid off, leaving a lingering trail down your sides.

“What are you doing out here?” you asked. You felt the sudden need to escape. His broad frame was so close that it nearly blocked out the porch light at his back, leaving the leftover light to outline his body and setting him up as the only thing in your immediate view.

You rounded him and aimed for the door.

“Think you were looking for this.”

You stopped in your tracks and looked over your shoulder. Steve held up the spare key in his hand.

“Where’d you get that?” you asked.

“Where he said it’d be. I went for a run after you left and took the key. Guess I just forgot to put it back.”

He didn’t just forget things like that. But why was he lying?

“Oh,” you said instead. “It’s all right. I was just going to ring the bell anyway.”

“He’s sleeping.”

“He is?”

“Passed out not too long ago. Said he had an early start this morning and it wiped him out.”

“Okay…” you started. “Can I have the key, then?”

He edged closer, and instead of handing you the key as you might have expected, he reached over and gripped the doorknob with one hand, like he was trying to keep you out. Keep you with him.

“How long’s this been going on?” he asked, voice a little too intimate under the porch light, and soft in the way one might use when he knew he was in charge and wanted to lull the other person into a false sense of security.

“How long has what been going on?” you asked.

“You and Bucky.”

Your immediate thought was of the mission.

“Did Bucky already tell you?” Had Bucky gone ahead and decided to tell him that you were going undercover?

“He did. But turns out I should’ve been able to figure it out myself if I’d been paying any sort of attention. I swore I had been.”

“We were going to tell you, Steve. I didn’t think there was any reason not to, but he seemed to want to keep it on the down low. So, sorry about that whole charade earlier. If it’s worth anything, I wanted to tell you to begin with.”

“Hmm.” He chuckled low in his throat, but the sound lacked any amusement. “I still can’t decide if it would’ve been better coming from you or just plain worse.”

You knitted your eyebrows. “Why? Is it really that big a deal? Maybe Bucky was right to want to keep it a secret, then. I think you’re blowing things a little out of proportion here, Steve. I think he and I will be just fine. Now, can I please have the key so we can go inside already?”

“By all means.” He held out the key, and you plucked it from his hand and opened the door after he relinquished his grip on the handle.

“One more thing.” Steve had moved his hand to the doorframe, blocking your entrance. The feel of his arm pressed against your middle was impossible to ignore. “I’ve learned a thing or two over these last few years. When it’s time to wait and when it’s time to fight. And let’s just say…I’m done with waiting this time around.”

You looked at him like he was the world’s most confounding puzzle.

He pressed a hand to the small of your back and guided you inside. You didn’t resist, still reeling from the conversation.

You were still reeling from it as you changed into your pajamas in the privacy of the guest room and his words played over and over in your head.

_I’m done with waiting this time around._

Waiting for what?

**. . .**

You slipped into the kitchen around midnight. You’d yet to fall asleep and had the sudden craving for a snack.

You were debating your options in the pantry when Bucky shuffled in, sleepily scratching the scruff of his incoming beard.

“Ice cream’s in the freezer if you want it,” he said, voice coming out tired.

“Have a nice nap?” you asked.

“Best one I’ve had in ages.” He continued to the fridge, where he drank juice straight from the bottle.

“So, I heard you told Steve about the mission,” you said.

He swallowed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Oh, uh…yeah.”

“I don’t get it, though. What could he possibly have against us going undercover? I mean, seriously? We’ve ironed out all the details. We’ve prepared for possible contingencies.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he just misses being out there. Being out in the field.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Who knows? Either way, he’ll come around.”

You leaned against the pantry door. “Well, you looking forward to tomorrow?”

“Looking forward? Depends on my mood. Ready? Sure. I lure her in, we get her, we bring her in.”

“If only they were all that easy.”

“There is something we haven’t gone over, though. Something we should probably get straight before we go.”

“What?”

“We are going to be a couple, aren’t we? Should probably make sure we do a decent job of making it seem real.”

“You mean…”

“Couple stuff. Holding hands, kissing. Got to make sure we know what the other’s comfortable with.”

You nodded. “Right. Well, I don’t know about you, but holding hands seems pretty straightforward to me. Kissing, on the other hand…”

“A little more complicated.”

“Unless we go for a simple peck on the lips.”

“But in case duty calls for more, I think we should know what to expect so the other person isn’t surprised. Just in case.”

You’d already known this was coming. “For the mission.”

He nodded. “For the mission.”

It was made easier by the fact that he appeared completely professional about it.

He stepped closer, took your face in his hands, and leaned in, a hairsbreadth away from kissing you.

Right before he was yanked away with a force that nearly took you with him.

“Get a room. Or actually, don’t.”

The edge of repressed violence in that tone sent shivers down your spine.

Steve. He’d entered the room completely undetected and snatched Bucky by the back of the shirt before he could land his mouth on yours.

“Steve! What is your problem?” you admonished.

“I’d rather not be subjected to your public displays of affection when I’m trying to get something to drink.”

“It’s my house,” Bucky retorted, sounding not altogether off-put by Steve’s sudden appearance.

Steve didn’t respond, just poured some water for himself with that look on his face that said he was in the mood for murder but he’d pretend to be a good boy for just a little longer.

Bucky turned to you, a small amount of mischief gleaming in his eyes. It was a rare sight, and you were taken aback by it. “Don’t worry about him,” he said. “We got plenty of time to pick up where we left off later.”

The fridge slammed shut behind him, startling you. You threw Steve a glare.

Bucky paid it no heed. The amused expression on his face remained. “Plenty of time.”

**. . .**

The next afternoon, you and Bucky took a commercial flight to Vancouver and sat in business class. Fewer people trying to sneak glances at him, he’d said. By the time you arrived, you would have just enough time to get spruced up for the party.

The mission went off without a hitch. Bucky reeled Hendricks in like a fish on a hook, and after months of chasing leads, you finally caught her. There wasn’t much playacting necessary; all you had to do was make sure Hendricks saw you and Bucky across the room with his arm looped around your waist as well as the kiss on the cheek you gave him before slipping away under the pretense of needing the powder room.

Hendricks closed in soon after, questioning how the Winter Soldier found himself at a cocktail party such as that. They flirted, he led her to an office upstairs, and after a make-out session that didn’t end quite soon enough for your liking, you emerged in the doorway, cutting off her escape. At first believing you were upset because she’d been caught with your boyfriend, she watched as Bucky pretended to be humiliated and repentant. Then she smirked, offering you the most insincere of insincere apologies. She would soon discover that she had much bigger problems.

With the mission deemed a success, you returned home without incident. It was ten a.m. local time when you arrived at Bucky’s house. You knew Steve was still there, courtesy of the text Bucky had sent him after you landed. You were wiped and ready to collect your things in order to head home.

That is, until you flopped down to the guest bed with the intention of resting for only a few minutes and ended up conking out.

**. . .**

You woke to nothing in particular. The blinds were closed, but the light suffusing the room indicated you hadn’t slept the day away. A little past noon, if you were to guess.

You yawned and flipped to your other side, eyes closed as you stretched.

And when they opened, he was there.

“Holy—!” You jerked back on the mattress. “Steve, what the hell are you doing in here? And why are you sitting on my bed? Do you know how freaking creepy it is to find you just sitting there like that while I’ve been asleep this whole time?” 

He sat propped up against the headboard as he flipped through a book, looking like he had all the time in the world.

“Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything embarrassing in your sleep.” He didn’t look at you as he spoke.

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Didn’t want to miss you when you left.”

“So you decided to watch me as I slept?”

“I haven’t been watching you. Just catching up on some reading while you happened to be sleeping next to me.” He spoke so casually, like you were freaking out for no reason and he’d grown weary of it.

“Yeah, ’cause that makes it so much better.” You sat up, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. “What time is it?” Bucky hadn’t put a bedside clock in there.

“A little after one. You passed out as soon as you got back.”

“Yeah, I know. I don’t know why I’m so tired. I’ve traveled longer distances than that and don’t usually get that jet-lagged.”

“You sure it’s not because of you and Bucky picking up where you left off?”

“Huh?”

“I’m sure you had a late night last night. You and Bucky.” He flipped another page. His eyes were still on the book and he looked calm—maybe too calm—but something in his voice whispered to you that he was a dam dangerously close to breaking. Sooner or later, all hell would let loose and all the water would come flooding in, sweeping you away in its depths.

“What are you talking about?” you started carefully. “We headed straight to bed after the whole kitchen thing.”

“Great. Good for you.”

“Okay, seriously, Steve, what is your problem? You’re in a bad mood the whole time I’ve been here, and when I come back, I wake up to find you in my bed and you’re still in a pissy mood. I already told you I didn’t know you’d be here this weekend and that I was sorry, and it’s not like Bucky and I could reschedule. What else do you want me to say?”

“How about what you’re doing with him in the first place.” He was finally looking at you. Except now, with that dark look on his face, you wished he wasn’t.

“What?” was your response. Not a “what” meant to ask for simple clarification, but the “what” of someone who was truly perplexed.

He slowly set his book down on the nightstand and folded his arms, eyes fixed on you the whole time. You became hyperaware of just how much space he seemed to take up. He was just sitting there, long legs laid out in front of him and ankles crossed, and still you felt trapped. He was even positioned between you and the door.

You inched back on the mattress as subtly as you could manage, as though he wouldn’t notice.

“Tell me,” he said, voice still laden with that strange shadowy undercurrent. “What are you doing with Bucky?”

You shook your head. “I don’t get what you mean.”

“Why the hell does Bucky get to have you?”

Your stomach tightened. “What are you talking about, have me? He doesn’t have me.”

“You show up to his house, you let him kiss you, you share his bed. Yeah. I’d say he has you. So tell me, why him? What is it about him that you decided you want so much?”

Share his bed? Want Bucky?

It was then that understanding seeped into your awareness. “Oh my god. Steve. Do you think Bucky and I are together?”

He gritted his teeth. “Of course you’re together. The whole reason you left was so that he could meet your family. You want to know something, he even made it a point to make sure I knew. Knew he thought you were his.”

All those things he’d said alluding to you and Bucky on the porch, in the kitchen suddenly made sense. Yet Bucky had let you go on believing he’d come clean to Steve about the mission. And to what end?

You were on your feet in a flash. “Where’s Bucky? I need to talk to him.” You were one unhappy camper, and you were about to make sure your friend knew about it.

A heavy arm looped around your waist in under a second and hauled you back to a firm chest before you could make it out the door.

“Steve!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“What are you doing? I need to find Bucky.”

“You’re not going anywhere near him.”

“Steve, you’ve got it all wrong—”

“Yeah? Does that mean my oldest friend is somehow only under the false impression that you belong to him?”

“Stop it. I don’t belong to anyone.”

He acted before you could even blink. With a flash of movement, he surged forward with you still attached to him and spun you by the waist before your back slammed into the wall. He resembled a crazed animal as he fixated on you, his fingers digging into your waist.

You knew several sides to Steve. There was kind, thoughtful Steve. There was also serious, stoic Steve. Then there was single-minded, in-the-field Steve. This?

This was the Steve you didn’t fuck with.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “You do belong to someone, and it’s sure as hell not him.”

Your mind spiraled. “Steve, just hear me out.”

“I run out of patience when it comes to you. I told you I’m done waiting, and I meant it.”

“Wait, Steve—”

He tugged you up just as his mouth crashed down on yours. He didn’t wait. Nor did he ask for permission. He took. He demanded. Demanded your lips open so you’d be forced to accept his tongue and he could kiss you with the violence of a man expelling his long pent-up aggression. His kiss was wild. He was wild.

So wild he didn’t heed your sounds of protest and your efforts to push him away. He just pulled you back and kept clutching you by the waist, the face, the back of your neck. When you succeeded in wrenching your mouth from his, he’d just clutch you by the back of the neck and yank you back over like it was nothing, like he could so easily cover you with him, with his scent, and make sure the world knew you’d been thoroughly marked by him.

You were trapped against the wall, against his hard body, and even as you fought for respite, another part of you basked in the feel of his body covering yours and all the sensations his possessive touch sent swirling through you.

Your breath hitched when you suddenly found yourself clear of the floor and your bare legs were made to wrap around his waist. He held you effortlessly, his mouth never once letting up as he propped you up between him and the wall so he could undo the button of your shorts and yank them down. Your underwear went off along with them.

The sensation of cool air meeting skin had you gasping into his mouth, and it was a much needed dose of reality.

Steve was about to fuck you right then and there. Against the wall. In Bucky’s house. With Bucky probably rooms away.

Were you really going to do this with him?

The sound of Steve’s belt and zipper hurriedly being undone had you foaming at the mouth.

Yes. Yes, you were.

He locked an arm around your waist and reattached his mouth to yours right before he surged in, and this time he didn’t stop it when you broke free from his kiss in pure shock. The man was hung like a horse.

He watched, mesmerized, delirious, and brushed the pad of his thumb across your cheek, like he wanted to capture your expression all for himself. Then he made the decision that your time to adjust was up and he pulled out, only to ram his entire length back in.

Over and over he came in hard, and it was all you could do to take it, to clutch him by his broad shoulders and muscles and hold on for dear life as he staked his claim. You tried meeting him thrust for thrust, but it was too fast, too hard, too everything. He snaked a hand under your top and shoved your bra away to grab your breasts greedily. Lips and tongues danced together in a tangled mess, heated breaths mingled, grunts and groans filled the space not taken up by the sounds of slapping flesh.

One rough hand came up to close around your neck, applying just enough pressure to make you feel it but not enough to alarm you. With his hand wrapped around like that, you could feel the vibrations in your throat as you struggled to hold in your moans.

Your fingers slid down to your clit as he pounded away before they were not so gently pushed away and your fingers were replaced by his, like your clit was his to own, his to take care of. You held on to the forearm by your neck as he rubbed your clit forcefully without breaking his hard thrusts, and your head fell back against the wall in overwhelming pleasure.

You came just like that, pinned up in Bucky’s guest bedroom with Steve pounding you into the wall and clinging to you fiercely like you’d be taken away from him at any second. The sheer force of your climax stole the breath from your lungs, and all you could do was hold on to Steve as he buried his face in your neck and moaned a drawn out, guttural “fuck” at the feel of your inner walls milking him for all he was worth.

Then, with his face still buried in your neck and a few harsh thrusts later, he came, the sound of his pleasure making you ache for him all over again. Gripping you tightly, he spilled his release deep inside you and made no move to let go, even after he’d spent himself entirely.

The sound of your heavy breaths permeated the air. He was still inside you, and you were still held captive against the wall. His face was still in your neck, and his arm was still a prison around your waist while his other hand was slapped up against the wall by your head.

Your mind was still addled by the remnants of that intense, unspeakable pleasure, but you had just enough of your wits about you to speak.

“Steve?”

It took a moment for his reply to come. Likewise, he was still catching his breath against your skin. “Yeah.”

“Just thought you should know, I’m, uh…I’m not with Bucky.”

He stilled.

“Never have been.”

He finally withdrew from your neck to meet your eye.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you before all…this. So, yeah, you just had sex with me even when you thought I was your best friend’s girlfriend.”

“I’ll make a rare exception in this case and say I forgive him,” Bucky’s voice suddenly appeared from the other side of the door.

You gasped and instinctively tried to disentangle yourself from Steve so you could run for cover. Instead, Steve tightened his grip, halting your escape and angling the both of you so that your body would be covered by his should Bucky think to come barging in. He remained inside you.

“You guys are done, right?” asked Bucky.

“Get out of here, Bucky,” Steve said toward the door in a rough voice.

“Rude, don’t you think? This is my house.”

“And she’s mine. So back off.”

“Jesus. You finally get the girl you want and you turn into a caveman.”

Even pressed up against Steve like that, you were still irritated by how they spoke about you as though you weren’t there. “I’m right here.”

Steve cut his gaze over to you, looking not in the least bit pleased that you’d reminded Bucky of how you remained half-naked on just the other side of the door from him.

“You guys better clean up in there,” Bucky said. “I’m not stepping foot in that room while it still reeks of sex.”

Your skin burned with mortification. You couldn’t believe you’d just had sex with Bucky able to hear it all. In the heat of the moment, it’d been a negligible obstacle, but now, you didn’t know if you could face him again so soon.

“Well, I’m heading back outside,” Bucky said. “Make sure you’re decent when you come out. I’m sure you’re counting down the seconds till you can yell and throw things at me.” The sound of his footsteps faded as he walked away.

You and Steve stared at each other, unmoving for some time. Then, carefully, he slipped out and set you back on your feet. You gathered your shorts and underwear, extremely self-conscious with the way he looked on as he righted his own clothes.

It was only when you decided to forgo your underwear temporarily so you could go to the bathroom and clean up that you realized where his gaze was fixed. You looked down to see his warm cum trickling down your thigh.

“Don’t clean it up.”

Your eyes flew up. “What?”

He stepped over to take your chin in one hand and cupped the junction between your thighs with the other, coating his finger with his own seed before dipping it inside your heat, like he wanted every last drop inside. “I want you remembering who was just there.”

Like you were soon to forget.

“You heard what I said earlier, right? That you’re mine?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, then, _maybe_ you need some reminding.”

“What, are you going to throw me down on the bed or something?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

You had no idea how to go about this. You were in uncharted territory. But you did know one thing.

You gently pried Steve’s hand off your chin and kept it in yours. His fingers steadily curled in around yours.

“Maybe I want you to do that,” you said. You wanted him to throw you down on the bed, for him to manhandle you and show you just what kind of strength he was capable of.

His eyes blazed with lust anew.

Before he could act on that want, you dropped his hand and stepped out of his reach. You quickly slipped on your shorts, underwear included.

“But first, I have to go talk to Bucky,” you said, reining in your smile at the brewing storm in his expression. “Matter of fact, you should come. Maybe find out about the mission this whole thing was all along.”

“You should’ve come to me.”

“What?”

“For the mission, which I’m assuming required going undercover. You should’ve come to me. Not Bucky.”

You had no idea how he’d gathered the nature of the mission so quickly. “You’re retired.”

“That may be, but I’m willing to put myself back out there on certain conditions. One of them being you.”

Your heart thudded. “Okay, maybe I’ll consider that next time.”

You turned for the door, but he stopped you from getting any farther with an arm around your waist.

“What did I say about going near him?”

One part of you was indignant, another tempted to laugh, and yet another was secretly thrilled. “You can’t keep me from being around other guys, Steve. It’s not realistic.”

“It’s not, huh? So that’s what you want. Realistic.”

Then he was hauling you up from behind and twisting you around so you were draped over his shoulder, completely at his will and unable to break free.

“Steve! Are you crazy? Put me down!” You pounded at his back, kicking and writhing to get away.

He merely walked out the bedroom door and through the house with you over his shoulder full caveman style. “You know, I think you’re right. I think it’s time we had a realistic talk with Bucky and came to an understanding on a couple of realistic concerns of mine.”

“You are ridiculous!”

“And he won’t have much room to argue, seeing as I took you in his own house right under his nose. Damn shame about that.”

“Seriously?”

“So there’s nothing really to talk about. And we can go back to doing that thing you talked about doing. ’Cause trust me, I’m real tempted to do it right about now.”

“God. Steve! You are not carrying me outside to Bucky like this!”

“What?” he said. “I’m just being realistic.”


End file.
